When we founded Westfields 50 years ago, reaching the first round proper of the FA Cup would have been nothing more than a wild dream. Getting to this stage has been a memorable journey, starting on 6 August in the extra preliminary round against Stourport Swifts. We needed a last-minute penalty to win 4-3 and that slender win has mushroomed into something very special. The logistics and arrangements put in place this week before our tie with Curzon Ashton are all new for us as a club. There is an enormous amount of work to be done. Football Focus will be live at the ground and there will be extended highlights on Match of the Day, and that’s something we have never been involved in before.

It’s magical, something we would never have expected in 1966. I was only 16 and all my pals were around the same age. We were in awe of England winning the World Cup and would play football on the street or any empty bit of grass and it didn’t matter if it was with a tennis ball or a punctured plastic ball. Gordon Banks, Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters were heroes to us back then, so we went out and bought the West Ham kit and still play in those colours today.

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I organised things along with Keith Scott, who was the captain, and a guy called Dewi Watkins and we played regularly on a Sunday morning. We’d cycle to the local park and play friendlies but at the end of the 1966 season we decided to play in the Herefordshire Sunday League. Gradually it has grown from there.

We now have the first team, a second team and 10 junior teams. We have a wonderful headquarters and ground, which was opened by Trevor Brooking back in 2004 but this run has catapulted us from local to international interest.

There have been phone calls from African journalists interested in our story and requests for tickets from all over the UK. I’ve three phones on my desk and they’ve all been going nonstop. We’re expecting about 1,000 but unfortunately our neighbours Hereford are at home and they get crowds of 2,500, so that might keep a few away from us. Even then, it will be our biggest day. It is made all the sweeter by the entire club being run by volunteers. Nobody on the committee gets paid and we all do it out of our love for the game.

It has been a memorable journey but we are being positive and looking to go through again. We could have lost any of those games but we’re here and hoping to progress further. Whenever we do go out, whether it’s this weekend or not, we will look back on it as the most memorable and historic piece of the club’s 50 years.

But we’re also looking to the future and hopefully this isn’t the last time we’re at this stage.

Spennymoor Town – Dan Lowson, goalkeeper

The FA Cup is a big deal but I don’t think this is the pinnacle for us because of the success the club has had in non-league. They won the FA Vase in 2013 and earned promotion last season. The main aim this season was to get promoted again but this is still a nice bonus for us. At the same time the club will gain financially and it is a nice morale boost for the lads to get through a few rounds and then to play in a big stadium.

We won’t have any fear going down to Milton Keynes from County Durham, although I’m not sure it is as big an advantage playing them when they’re down, as some people think. They are still a League One team. They’re not mugs and it doesn’t matter if they aren’t playing well. It’s not worth our time thinking about their managerial situation and there is the risk of a backlash from them, too. We’re not fancied but we just need to go and do our best and see what happens.

We’re preparing right and travelling down the night before. It’s such a big day, everyone enjoys playing in the cup. You try to prepare in a similar way but you get a bit longsighted when the draw is made – especially if you get a big club.

I actually scored in the opening qualifying round, a 5-3 win over Radcliffe Borough. I took a free-kick in my own box, it took a heavy bounce and went over the head of the opposing goalkeeper.

The first few weeks were a bit crazy after it. My phone never stopped but it’s calmed down now. Looking back you think: “Oh, their poor keeper” but it’s not something that happens a lot and there was such a novelty factor about it. At the time it was surreal.

Normally when you score everyone is at the end the ball goes in celebrating but after I scored everyone came down to me. In that situation the opposition were free to kick-off when they wanted. So we were all still celebrating when the game restarted.

It would be nice to be celebrating again but it is going to be a big test. We won’t be putting ourselves under any pressure because nobody expects us to advance but we’re going to give it our best shot and hope for the best.

Taunton Town – John Quick, supporter

I’ve been a fan of Taunton Town since the 1950s, so for about 60 years all in all. I’m 74 now and I’d say this is one of the biggest games I can remember for the club.

We’ve been to the first round of the cup once before, back in the 80s. We played Swindon Town, which I think we lost 3-1 after being 1-0 up. Apart from that we won the FA Vase at Wembley in 2001, that was a highlight.

The match is certainly quite a conversation piece in the town. I think you’ve got to be a bit realistic, we’ve done well to get this far. We’ve beaten two National League sides but now we’re talking about a team only four places away from the Football League. On the day, with a bit of luck, we’ve got a chance. But if you’re a betting man you wouldn’t put money on Taunton.

The Evo-Stik League match between Taunton Town and Slimbridge at the Viridor Stadium earlier this week. Photograph: Harry Trump/Getty Images

I go to the games with two friends, we’ve all been going the same length of time. We used to play local football together years ago. We usually stand in the same place, at the left hand side of the goal on the concrete bank. There’s no name for the end but it’s pretty popular, it’s handy for getting a cup of tea at half-time.

There’s a very good bond between players and fans here. The players go around and applaud the fans after the match, though I suspect the manager is probably telling them to.

Chesham United – Andy Leese, manager

Getting to the first round of the FA Cup is the holy grail for our club. It’s our objective for the season because of what it means, the rewards it brings. Last year we made the first round and beat Bristol Rovers. It’s fantastic to replicate that and visit Peterborough.

What do I remember about the Bristol match? I remember everything: the anticipation of going to a pro club, the atmosphere in the ground, the size of the crowd. But the stuff that happened after the match, that’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my days. Coachloads of people had come to welcome us home. I was staggered that it meant so much to so many people.I’ve tried to ban all talk of the cup until this week to keep minds focused because the league is our bread and butter. But if I’m honest we do step it up for the cup. We try to look at the opposition two or three times, we’ve been given DVDs and there’s scouting reports that we’ve got our hands on. We’ve extended the training sessions so that the whole squad has a clear understanding of what we want. We’ll be doing things slightly differently from normal because you’ve got to be a little more conscious of the threats.

I love pitting my wits against the professionals and the players enjoy it too. I’ve got two ex-Premier League players in my team: Darren Purse and Barry Hayles. Barry’s 44 now but he’s in amazing condition. We’ve got experienced players, so while the anticipation and excitement is there, we’ll just put a lid on it. That said, they’ll enjoy the occasion. We’ll get a luxury coach from Buckinghamshire to the match and they’ll have breakfast at the club. They might not seem like big things but it’s that little bit different and I’m certainly looking forward to it.

Merstham FC – Martin Burr, supervising groundsman

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The history of our club goes back to 1892. They used to play on a farm in Surrey and the pitch was called “football field”. The story goes the farmer used to let them change in the adjacent orchard. There’s a photo you can see in the clubhouse of the team in 1905, they’re all wearing flat caps and there’s a dog running round. That field is now the M23 extension.

We don’t have anybody or anything at all at the club so when I first had to get the pitch done I used to call a farmer and ask him to cut it. As we went up the pyramid, though, I realised you had to do this stuff for yourself. Later the FA emailed and said I’d been nominated for a groundskeeping award and could they see my equipment. I didn’t have a lawnmower or anything but we kept a reasonable ground so we won a little award. Later I applied for a grant from the FA and bought a tractor for £10,000.

The key to a healthy pitch is divoting. I’m one of those people that looks and learns: have a look at half-time in a professional match and there’ll be six or eight men out on the pitch with forks. They do that for a reason. If grass roots are turned over they don’t grow again. It costs £7,500 to redo the pitch every summer, you don’t want to be adding to that cost. So we’ve been out divoting the pitch today, ahead of Saturday’s game with Oxford. We’ll probably harrow it with the tractor too.

A sign advertising the FA Cup first-round tie between Merstham and Oxford United at Moatside. Photograph: TGSPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Southport – Emma Sanders, Southport Visiter reporter

The FA Cup is a massive game for Southport and it will be the full focus for our paper this week. Usually our match preview would be about all the teams in the area but this time it was just about Southport. We also wrote a news story about the team training on Ainsdale beach.

I would definitely say there’s a rivalry between Southport and Fleetwood. They’re only 40 miles from each other and in 2010 Southport beat Fleetwood to the National League North title. We ran an interview with Southport’s new goalkeeper Magnus Norman last week and even he called it a local derby.

Southport are in the National League and Fleetwood are in League One so there’s a difference in pedigree but it’s a big occasion for sure. Especially because it’s televised. Southport have gone four games unbeaten and have moved out of the relegation zone, so they’re in their best period of form for a while. The players are starting to respond to the new manager so I’d say the game has come at a good time.

• This article was corrected on Friday 4 November to state that Southport beat Fleetwood to the National League title, not the other way round.